One of Those Days
by Kaleidoskopik
Summary: A collection of general weirdness. Day 3: Stress Dreams
1. Day 1: Meat

_A/N: Yes, I know this isn't the third chapter of my death and despair fic. I got distracted._

* * *

Sokka loved meat. Everyone knew this. For as long as his family could remember, he had treated seal jerky the same way a young Katara had treated her dolls. That, however, was no excuse for the scene currently unfolding in front of Katara and Zuko.

The Water Tribe warrior was sitting in the middle of his igloo – sorry, watchtower – huddled over a rather large piece of what looked to be a medium-rare tiger-seal steak.

"Sweet, beautiful,_ precious," _ Sokka murmured to the steak as he rubbed it against his cheek with one hand and caressed it with another. "Daddy will never leave you again, I promise."

Zuko just stood dumbstruck and the slightest bit disgusted as Sokka cooed to the dinner entrée. They had come to ask when Sokka would want dinner, but it seemed he'd beaten them to the punch. Sort of. Maybe? Zuko could feel his brain shutting down from the awkwardness of the situation. _Maybe we should just leave…_

While Zuko slipped further into awkward repulsion, Katara simply became increasingly angry. She marched up to Sokka and tore the meat from his hands, holding it as far away from her brother as she could while he scrambled to take it back. Only when her refusal to return the steak had reduced Sokka to a whimpering lump at her feet did she begin to scold him.

"What is _wrong _with you?!" she shouted. "We did not travel all the way from the Fire Nation to visit for you to act like a freak! Really, Sokka, is this _really _the best way to greet a sister you haven't seen in a _year?_ I can't believe this!"

"What else was I supposed to do?!" Sokka shot back, though his eyes never left the perfectly good meal in Katara's hand. "It's not like I've been sitting around doing nothing! I just got back from traveling with Aang! Do you _know _what that's like?! _HE WOULDN'T LET ME EAT MEAT. _I'm the Meat and Sarcasm Guy! You can't take that away from me. Now give me back my meat!" With one swift movement he took the steak from Katara and returned to his original position, whispering sweet nothings to his prize all the while.

Katara threw up her hands in defeat and left the snow hut, dragging Zuko along with her. Outside her rant began anew. "I can't _believe_ him! All I wanted was a bit of normalcy away from court and he gives me this!" She crossed her arms and huffed, disappointment clear as day on her face.

Zuko smirked. Katara should have known better than to expect anything remotely close to normal from her brother, and he said as much. The next thing he knew, he was being pummeled with snow balls the size of his head. Soon a full-scale snow ball war broke out, the kind which left both sides curled on the ground, breathing heavily.

Zuko rose first, pulling Katara up with him. "Come on," he said, "let's see how Sokka reacts to us cleaning out that huge buffet table without him."

Katara's only response was to kiss him full on the mouth and run toward the tribe's dining hall.


	2. Day 2: Things that Go Bump in the Night

_Thump. Thump._

Toph huffed and tangled her feet in her blankets, hoping it would dull her awareness of the vibrations that had hindered her normally peaceful sleep.

_Thump. Thump._

Toph growled in frustration, this time unceremoniously shoving a pillow under her feet. Her ability to feel vibrations in the earth was less pronounced in other areas of her body. With her feet off the ground, maybe she could finally get some sleep.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

Toph rolled out of her blankets and stood still for a second, pinpointing the source of her latest annoyance. She'd had enough. As long as she was here, they were going to have to show a little more respect. She was the greatest earthbender in the world, and she demanded a good night's rest!

She barged into the room next to hers without abandon, grinning impishly at the shriek of embarrassment emitted from the female in the room. _Hmm, they're trying something new tonight, I think, _Toph thought as she casually cracked her knuckles. _Too bad I'm going to end it. _With two precise movements she tethered the offending parties to the floor.

"Now that I have your attention, I'm here to say that I'm sick of being kept awake by you two every time I visit! You two are gonna do what you're gonna do. I get it. Whatever. _But do it when I'm not here._" Satisfied that she'd gotten her point across, Toph promptly left the room and returned to bed.

The next morning's cacophony of Sokka's outrage and Zuko's and Katara's futile protestations was music to Toph's ears.


	3. Day 3: Stress Dreams

"…"

Zuko looked up from the sword he was polishing to see Toph staring at him from a few feet away.

"…"

Zuko raised an eyebrow, but returned to his sword. Toph wasn't normally this quiet. He figured if she wanted something, she'd let him know.

Without warning, Toph burst into flames. Slowly, painfully slowly, she faded from existence without so much as a scream.

Zuko simply kept polishing.

* * *

Katara woke with a start. _That's it, _she thought. _Never again am I arguing with Zuko over Fire Nation politics before bed._

* * *

_A/N: _

Between the college application process and mid-year exams, I feel prone to spontaneous combustion. In any event, the original version of this had much more gore, but I figured it wasn't the greatest idea to subject other people to my stress-induced mania.

On the bright side, I finished reading Fellowship of the Ring yesterday. Gotta love awesome books. *reads the Two Towers instead of finishing the work she needs for her art exam* Work is a foreign concept to me. Totally.


End file.
